Embraer made the right decision to go for an altogether larger aircraft size rather than just do a bit of a stretch as Bombardier did. After great sales success by both Embraer and Bombardier with their RJs (approx 1,000 units each), the bottom fell out of the market astoundingly quickly and both got left with unsold stock and competition from a lot of almost new aircraft parked up.
This has happened repeatedly, with US Commuter carriers ordering large fleets and then dumping them. First it was 19-seat turboprops, then they dropped those and restocked with 35-50 seaters, then they dumped all those for the RJs. I just wonder if the same will happen with the larger Embraers.